Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will jump to my second question, which is still on the issue around assault in the workplace. From a nursing perspective, it has to be looked at through a feminist lens. Some 90% of the profession comprises women. It seems, at least, that, as Ms Ní Sheaghdha outlined, these are not seen as workplaces by the State; they are seen as places of care. Yet they are workplaces and, as Ms Ní Sheaghdha said, the HSE is one of the biggest employers in the country. If this was not in the health sector, this rate of assault would not be contemplated. It would simply never get to this stage. This cannot be looked at without putting a feminist lens on it or looking at it through a gendered lens and wonder if that is why this is being allowed to continue. As many plans and everything that are laid out to deal with it, it has not been dealt with efficiently by the powers that be up until this point. There is a nurse here and I want to thank her for coming in and sharing her testimony. She has elaborated on the impact the assaults are having on her and her colleagues. Does she go into work every day feeling safe? I cannot believe that in 2023 in a committee, we are asking the question, "Do you even feel safe going into work?" I cannot believe that we are at that. We should not be asking that question. Do her colleagues feel safe going to work? Is the risk or, at this point, reality of assault in the workplace pushing people out of the sector? We have all the reasons people are leaving the sector such as work, pay, and all those things, but is this one of the reasons people are leaving the sector and causing part of this staffing crisis we hear about all the time?